The Perpetual Summer by Adam Walker Phillips

Author:Adam Walker Phillips
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781945551130
Publisher: Prospect Park Books
Published: 2017-10-23T00:00:00+00:00

He didn’t bring her. He didn’t even bring himself.

We wasted four hours driving out to Sunland and sitting in a Rally’s parking lot waiting for Nelson and Jeanette to show. But they never did. Just as we were about to call it a night, Hector’s phone buzzed.

“Is it her?” I asked.

“No,” he said and studied the number. “It’s Valenti.”

We both sensed what was about to happen next. I observed Hector answer and casually look away to some random spot across the parking lot as he listened to the old man. It was a short conversation.

“He wants to meet us at the club,” he said.

Hector said nothing on the drive. Perhaps it was my imagination, but he started to resemble the Hector I knew when we first started out on this work. He was morphing back into his old role before my eyes. Or, I was projecting my feelings onto him because I knew at the end of this drive I was going to be fired.

I knew the termination walk very well. I had walked it too many times with associates not to recognize that feeling of a distinct distance growing around me. The banter, if there was any, was small talk of a different sort than the kind that took place around the coffee machine or in the elevator. There, you talked of the weather and last night’s game to non-sports fans. Here, you made hollow observations on anything at all just so you wouldn’t have to listen to the silence.

“Be nice once they open up another lane on the 110 interchange,” I said, but Hector never acknowledged me.

I desperately wanted to crawl into the backseat for the remainder of the ride.

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